Challenge

One of our insurance partners came to us with a problem that many businesses face today. When major weather events occur, it can seriously impact their business. Previously, they had to wait until they experienced an increase in claims activity, or manually monitor weather events to react quickly. Our client was looking for a way to monitor and alert their employees of pending storms and the effect those storms have on their portfolio.

Solution

We used the Esri® ArcGIS GeoEvent Extension for Server (GEE) to assist in solving this problem. In our solution, GEE monitors several different weather services that are maintained by 3rd-party sources. When a weather event occurs, we compare the event location with the policy information in the area. If the event meets a series of importance criteria, we use the GeoDecisions Notify system to send text messages to the regional claims managers with event details. The SMS also includes a link to the mobile weather viewer application that can zoom to the event and policies in question.

Results

While our solution is in the early stages for this partner, they are able to receive alerts of incoming events and view those events quickly on a mobile or desktop application. We brainstormed ways that this solution could continue to change our partner’s business for the better. Discussions included the idea of sending email and/or text messages to our partner’s customers with instructions for filing a claim, along with a list of approved contractors to help reduce fraudulent claims and improve customer satisfaction. Our partner is excited to see what new ways real-time GIS can impact and improve daily business and we think they are just getting started!